Three muggers made a classic B-movie mistake Tuesday in Sydney, Australia. The thugs targeted a 27-year-old German student, and strong-armed him, getting his cell phone and his iPod, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. It was a dark street, where bad things happen. Unfortunately, it was so dark that they didn't noticed they were doing it right behind a martial arts studio, where ninja classes were just letting out. And thus began the chase, with five ninja-clad warriors chasing three street thugs. Two were caught, and police are searching for the third.

Animal kingdom

There's a monkey on loose in Conn., too

Officials in Greenwich, Conn., have stopped looking for the monkey on the loose there. They believe the monkey is a spider monkey, and it was last seen two weeks ago, eating from a trash container, reports the Greenwich Times. Since it has not been seen for two whole weeks, it is assumed that the monkey left the area. Apparently they are completely unaware of the odyssey of the monkey on the loose in Pinellas County. It could show up again anytime, anywhere.

Policy of honesty

Two cases of finders-returners

• Jocelyn Garnace was sorting through donations at the Goodwill in Asheville, N.C., when she unfurled a sock and ended up with $5,365 in cash at her feet. "I've found cash before, but nothing like this," she told WHNS-TV. From other items with the cash, they tracked it to a 96-year-old woman whose family said she was known to hide money all over the house.

• Liz and Mark Thompson bought an armoire for their business at an estate sale, and one of their employees found two envelopes inside. The envelopes contained $20,000. They tracked down the previous owner, who was a 78-year-old woman with medical bills.

Update

Special order did upset McDonalds

The four Utah teens who were cited for disorderly conduct after putting their McDonald's drive-through order to a rap beat have been cleared by a judge, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The restaurant manager said she called the police because they were using abusive language and driving erratically. "The song itself was actually kind of creative," Officer Keith Southard said. "It was what happened afterward that created an issue."

Compiled from Times wire services and other sources by staff writer Jim Webster, who can be reached at jwebster@sptimes.com.